Hopper car door frame



July 10, 1951 Q G. B. DOREY HOPPER CAR DOOR FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 17, 1948 July 10, 1951 G. B. DOREY HOPPER CAR DOOR FRAME Fil edAug. 17, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFlCE HOPPER CAR DOOR FRAME George.B.. Dorey, Westmount, Quebec,Canada, assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, 111.,a corporation of Illinois Application August 17, 1948, SerialNo. 44,672

Claims.

My invention. relates toan improved hopper car door frame and is by wayof an improvement on the T-shaped frame disclosed in the A. CampbellUnited States Patent No. 1,912,620 of June 6, 1933.

My invention resides in an improvement on the T-shaped rolled sectionemployed for the sides and bottom members of a stirrup like structureused to form three sides of a four sided frame. It is a particularobject ofmy invention to provide aspeeial T frame section which will bereinforced adjacent the outer marginal edge of the frame and be of aform suitable for bending into ing. a. wedge shaped wall extendingaround the sides and bottom of theframe.

For further comprehension of my invention, reference may be had to theaccompanyingdrawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a. longitudinal. elevationalview of a part of the side of a hopper car showing as much of the car asnecessary to. show a frame and its associated door.

Fig. 2.is an elevationalv frontal view of the door and frame shown in.Fig. 1 as viewedfrom right to left.

Fig. 3 is a sectional plan. view taken through the frame and door and ona line corresponding substantially to a line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken through the lowerportion of the frame and door as taken on a line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken through the T frame section and showingthe manner in which the recessed portion of theseotion receives a dieblock to govern the alinement of the frame during the bending operation.

Fig. 6 is a frontal elevational. view of a frame embodying my improved Tframe section.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of the frame shown in Fig. 6 as viewedfrom right to left.

In said drawings my improved frame is shown as applied to a W type ofhopper car including a longitudinally sloping floor l 0 and inner andouter side walls at II and I2 respectively, the latter 2. slopinginwardly downwardly, and an upper sloping floor l3, said respectivewalls [9, H, I2 and I3 having their edge portions defining the mar.-gins of an opening.

Positioned in the opening to overlie the side walls and the bottom floorand underlie the upper sloping floor is the frame A and hinged theretois the door B.

Theframe A includes atopmember l4 preferably formed of an angle bent toshape and having hinge butts l5l5 welded or otherwise secured thereto,whereby the door B is mounted by means of pivots I6.

The lower part of the frame is of stirrup like form bent to shape toconform to the shape of the hopper and includes inner and outer legs;

welded to the, top member Hi.

The stirrup forms three. sides of the opening with inner and outer legsas at I! and I8 and a.

bottom section I9, extending between said legs I! and. IS.

The T-shaped member which is preferably formed of a rolledsectionincludes a wide flange section 28 and a centrally disposedoutstanding stem 2|. Adjacent the outer margin of they frame my improvedframe is formed with a bulb portion 22 which is preferably of triangularshape with surfaces 23 and 24 inclined relatively to each other topresent a wedge shaped protuberance with the outer surface 23 inclinedsteeply relatively to the main body of the flange section 20.

The surface 23 of the bulb in combination with surfaces 25 of flange 26and 25 of the stem 2i form the contour of a pocket 2? for the receptionof a forming die block as indicated at 28.

The door B is of the usual pan shape with flat body portion 29 andupturned flanges 39, 3|, 32 and 33, the latter being inclined outwardlyto be substantially parallel to the outer surface 24 of the bulb. Theinner surfaces of side flanges 3i and 32 of the door by reason of thewedge shaped formation of the T frame are permitted to lie in closeproximity to the apex of the bulb as formed by surfaces 23 and 24, whenthe door is in closed position. It will be understood that the taperingconstruction of the frame flanges act as guides to center the door andconsequently' close fits between the door flanges and frame may betolerated for the purpose of obtaining a tightly fitting door.

The door when in closed position isarranged to abut the edges of theframe and it is therefore essential that a smooth and level surface beobtained on the frame throughout its bearing contact with the door.

The aim of my improvement is to obtain even bearing throughout thelength of contact with the door. It will be noted, that owing to thesloping nature of the hopper outer side walls, there is an undesirabletwist in the outer leg of the stirrup as indicated at 34 and in theabsence of the construction embodied in my improvement for retaining theouter edge of the frame in fixed relation to the die there is a tendencyfor the heavy stem construction of the T bar to control the direction ofdraw of the material, which has the effect of distorting the flanges ofthe frame, resulting in a warped and uneven bearing surface wherecontact with the door is made.

The tendency of the frame to distortion is further enhanced by the factthat in most constructions the body of the door is not at right anglesto the sloping bottom floor and there is therefore an angular bendbetween the bottom and sides of the frame as indicated at 35.

With my improved construction I am able to control the alinement of theouter edge by reason of the die block engaging with the guiding surface24 and such deformation as normally takes place due to departure fromright angle bends is then confined to the stem and the inner flange ofthe T bar.

What I claim is:

1. As a new article of manufacture an improved T-shaped rolled sectionof the character described for incorporation as the stirrup member of ahopper car door frame, said T -shape having a relatively thin flange andan outstanding centrally disposed stem and a marginal reinforcement atthe outer edge of the flange, said stirrup member being of U-shape withspaced apart depending legs and a connecting lower beam portion andadapted to be bent to shape in a forming die, said reinforcement beingin the form of a concentration of metal providing for increased wallthickness adjacent the front marginal edge of the stirrup, saidincreased wall thickness being of wedge shape and separated from theoutstanding stem by a comparatively thin flange section to provide arecess intermediate the stem and marginal reinforcement for receivingthe forming die.

- 2. In a railway car hopper door frame arranged for application to ahopper having a bottom and side walls, said frame having a stirrupportion of T shape disposed with the flange extending flatwise aroundthe bottom and side walls and the stem of the T outstanding from theflange and an upper beam member meeting with and united to the stirrupportion, said stirrup member being i adapted to be bent in a formingdie, said top member having hinge butts for pivotally supporting a doorfor meeting with the edge portions of the stirrup when the door is inclosed position; the improvement which consists of forming the outerflange of the T adjacent its contact with the door with a reinforcementin the form of a bulb of triangular form, said triangular shaped bulbformation being separated from the stem by a comparatively thin flangesection to provide a recess intermediate the stem and said bulbformation to receive and hold the forming die. 3. In a railway carhopper door frame arranged for application to a hopper having bottom andside walls, said frame having a stirrup portion of T shape disposed withthe flange extending flatwise around the bottom and side walls and thestem outstanding from said flange, said stirrup being adapted to be bentto shape in a forming die; and an upper beam member meeting with andunited to the stirrup portion, said beam member having hinge butts; adoor pivotally mounted on the hinge butts, said door being formed of panshape with upstanding flanges arranged to embrace the stirrup section ofthe frame when the door is in closed position; the improvement whichconsists of forming the flange of the T adjacent the door with amarginal reinforcement in the form of a relatively heavy concentrationof metal of greater thickness than the flange overlying the hopper wallplates, said concentration of metal being of triangular formation toprovide a wedge shaped flange presenting a wall surface extending at akeen angle to the hopper walls and disposed adjacent the upstandingflanges of the door, said wedge shaped flange having a recess formedtherein adjacentvthe outstanding flange to receive and hold the formingdie.

4. A closure for a hopper opening of a railway car comprising, incombination, a frame for surrounding said opening including a stirrupmember for overlying the bottom and sides of the opening and a topmember joining said sides, said stirrup member having a T-shaped. crosssection with the stem outstanding and the outer margin of the flangebeing thickened, said thickened margin having a surface inclined towardsaid hopper opening and providing an outfiaredguiding surface along thebottom and sides of said frame, and a pan shaped door hinged to said topmember and arranged to be guided into tight fitting engagement with thejuxtaposed edges of said frame by the guiding action performed by saidinclined guiding surface of said thickened margin in cooperation withthe side and bottom flanges of said pan shaped door.

5. A closure for a hopper opening of a railway car comprising, incombination, a frame for surrounding said opening including a stirrupmember for overlying the bottom and sides of the opening and a topmember joining said sides, said stirrup member having a flange portiondefining the bottom and sides of said opening and an outstanding stemportion spaced from the outer margin thereof, said outer margin beingthickened and having an outflaring wedge shaped wall extending aroundsaid bottom and sides, and a pan shaped door hinged to said top memberand arranged to be guided into tight fitting engagement with thejuxtaposed edges of said frame by the guiding action performed by saidwedge shaped wall in cooperation with the side and bottom flanges ofsaid pan shaped door.

GEORGE B. DOREY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Campbell June 13, 1933

